1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of decoding coded video data and re-coding said video data, in a process generally referred to as transcoding.
2. Description of the Related Art
Procedures for the downloading or streaming of video material are well known. When downloading, the whole of the file is transmitted before the file is played. Alternatively, when streaming, the material is viewed as the data is being transmitted. In either case, it is necessary for the receiving equipment to include appropriate decoding procedures (a CODEC) for decoding material, thereby allowing the material to be played.
Recently, there has been a trend towards receiving video material from many different sources and therefore it is possible for the material to conform to many differing coding techniques. Consequently, only a subset of this material may be available to a particular user if there are certain CODECs that are not locally available.
In order to render material playable without having the requisite CODEC, it is also possible to perform a transcoding operation in which the material is decoded and then re-coded to a different standard. As is known in the art, the decoding process is relatively inexpensive but coding procedures place higher demands on processing capabilities. Consequently, problems exist in terms of performing transcoding operations in short periods of time such that a user perceives the conversion as being substantially instantaneous, which may be considered as taking in the region of two seconds.